


Out of Childhood

by Boogalee99



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Guardian-Ward Relationship, M/M, Male Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 01:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10205783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boogalee99/pseuds/Boogalee99
Summary: After an invasion from an alien race with a rather... unique battle strategy, Green Lantern John Stewart suddenly finds himself caring for a de-aged Aqualad and Kid Flash. It's not long, however, before he starts to notice that childhood's lack of inhibitions may lead to the boys admitting to some hidden feelings.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Themisto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themisto/gifts).



> As soon as I got this assignment, I thought "crap, I know absolutely nothing about John Stewart." I googled and tried to figure stuff out (at least, as much as I could, school's pretty demanding) but I couldn't really find anything beyond he's a bit bitter towards society.
> 
> As such, I would like to apologize ahead of time if John is really OOC (as I suspect he is). Hopefully ya'll can look past that.

John Stewart had absolutely no idea what was going on.

One second, the Team and the League had been working rather well on a team up against some alien group or other, bent on enslaving the earth, you know, the usual. The next, John had two screaming babies cradled in his arms.

-

_Two hours earlier_

_-_

“The League has received intelligence placing belligerent alien life just outside of Earth’s space, ETA 45 minutes, tops,” Batman said, his monotone voice echoing throughout the silence of the Watchtower as he projected the mission down to the Team. The League was gathered behind him, surveying the young heroes on the monitor. John held back a smile as he saw Kid Flash twitching uncomfortably. He struggled to smother a laugh as Artemis elbowed him in the gut.

“Normally,” Batman continued, “The League would be perfectly capable of taking care of this on their own, especially as no one is off-world at the moment.” John raised an eyebrow as he watched the kids deflate a little bit.

“However…” John bit his lip to cover his chuckle as the kids perked back up. “ _Someone_ -“ Batman looked pointedly at Flash, who was too consumed in his snacks to notice, “thought that it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to build unity between the Team and the League.”

John held back a shudder at the devilish grin that spread across Robin’s face. Honest, fear may be anathema to the Green Lanterns, but John thought Batman and Robin could put fear into the hearts of the Guardians themselves if properly motivated. That’s not to say that John was afraid of a little kid, especially one with no superpowers.

Definitely not that.

The Green Lantern shook his head and focused back in on the _oh-so-important_ briefing before him. Honestly, all these meetings with Bats drove him insane. Of course, he understood the necessity, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy them.

“-and so, the Team will meet up with the original Leaguers at the estimated point of arrival in no more than 7 minutes. Understood?”

Aqualad nodded solemnly, but John had known the kid long enough to note the slight gleam in his eyes. “Yes, sir. The Team will be there.”

Bats gave a sharp nod and cut the feed. He turned to the League. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

John activated his ring and flew into the air. He called out, “Well, I guess that’s my cue. Coordinates?”

“Sent,” Batman replied shortly.

With that, he was on his way.

-

_Present_

_-_

John watched as the aliens retreated, but he was finding it hard to concentrate with two toddlers screaming in his ear.

The mission had started out easy enough. The aliens were of a kind that the Green Lantern was not familiar with (John didn’t think until later of how odd that was). The invaders (a weird race of bug people with scaly purple skin) had proven rather… delicate, to put it mildly. The Team and the League were obliterating them, hardly breaking a sweat in the process.

After a good twenty minutes of total domination, something odd had happened. A bright blue ray had swept over the heroes. No immediate side effects were noticed, but about 15 minutes after that, Robin reported feeling that something was ‘off.’

Worry spread throughout the League as one by one, the Team announced that they were feeling odd, or strange, or _wrong._

Panic didn’t set in until Captain Marvel shared the sensation. Everyone began to wonder who would be next and what exactly was happening.

“GL, watch Kid Flash and Aqualad!” Batman ordered. “I want you to shadow them. They turn right, you’re less that a hair’s breadth behind them. I’ve got Robin and Captain Marvel. Superman, you’re on Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian. Don’t let them breathe without you knowing!”

Minutes passed, but no more Leaguers reported the off feeling. The ray seemed to pass beyond current conscious thought, and the battle continued to rage on.

The Green Lantern carefully watched over his charges, unconsciously noting the way the worked together and the little glances KF would shoot Aqualad in between bursts of speed. Aqualad knew just where to guide his water bearers to avoid tripping up the speedster, and KF seemed to be aware of just when his leader needed backup.

The alien bug things began to retreat, and the battle waned as the League began to round up the stragglers. As Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter handled the last of them, John walked over and set a hand each on Kid Flash’s and Aqualad’s shoulders. “Alright there, boys?”

Out of the corner of his eyes, John noted Batman checking on Robin and Captain Marvel and Superman doing the same, albeit somewhat reluctantly with Superboy. The words had no sooner left his mouth, however, then a blinding blue light shown throughout the battle field, seemingly originating from those who had reported feeling strange after the initial beam. The Green Lantern quickly withdrew his hands from the young heroes’ shoulders and wrapped constructs about them, almost as if swaddling a newborn. He heard the shouts of surprise from the other Leaguers but gave his sole attention to the teens before him. Quick as it came, however, the light was gone, and the sound of screaming children filled the air.

John didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t two miniature humans.

The swaddling constructs that had previously been wrapped around two almost full grown men instead were supporting two little kids. Now, John wasn’t great with super little kids, but he thought that these two seemed to be between one and three years old.

And they were crying their heads off.

The smaller one had pale skin and a shock of red hair. He wore a yellow onesie with an adorable little red lightning bolt, and he was twisting around so much he had managed to turn himself upside down. John raised an eyebrow before turning to examine the other child.

This one, though still crying, was not nearly as loud as his companion. The child had dark skin with white fuzz coating his head. His soulful pale green eyes gazed up at the Lantern, practically begging to be held.

“Ah, hell,” John muttered, taking the mini Flash in one arm and the tiny Atlantean in the other. “What the crap is this?” The second he held the children, they stopped screaming and only watched their protector in silence.

“That’s what we’d all like to know.” He jumped slightly and turned around to see Batman, two adorable children of his own cradled in his arms. Mindful of the kids he was holding, GL leaned in to view the children.

The largest had dark brown hair and was soundly asleep in his savior’s arms. He wore a plain red onesie and had a white blanket tied around him like a cape. John hazarded a guess that this was Captain Marvel. The other child, however…

The boy was tiny. John wouldn’t have thought him more than six months. He had a tuft of black hair and was gazing up at John with the biggest, cerulean eyes John had ever seen. “Damn,” he breathed.

Batman shifted, and John would have had to have been an idiot to not notice the way his body curled protectively around the child, the way his grip tightened around the child. “That pretty much sums it up.”

A deep-throated yell made the two men whirl around. John struggled to hold in laughter, trying not to disturb the children in his arms.

It was Superman. Quite clearly, he was not handling little kids as well as Bats and John. A little blond girl who could only be Artemis was sitting on his shoulders, whacking the Kryptonian on the head with a toy bow. A little black haired boy was wrapped around one of his ankles, glaring at anyone who dared to look his way, and John hazarded a guess at his identity being Superboy.

What made this all the funnier was that this was occurring while Clark was flying in the air, chasing after a little green Miss Martian.

A giggle from the boys in his arms brought John’s attention back to the ground. Glancing at the small children, the Green Lantern felt a small smile rise to his face at the joy evident on mini-Wally’s face. “Think that’s funny, do you, mister?”

Wally continued to chuckle. “Thuperman thilly.”

John’s heart melted at the adorable lisp. He directed his attention to Clark, noting the concern in the small eyes. “What’s up, guppy?” He didn’t even notice the nickname slipping from his lips.

The kid’s eyebrows crinkled. “Will da big man hurt dem?”

John’s own eyebrows shot up. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I think they’ll be just fine. See?” He nodded his head back to the super, who was now laughing as the three children scrambled around his body.

“Kal-El, Green Lantern, focus.” The two heroes’ heads whipped around to face the Caped Crusader, who was somehow still looking dignified with one kid hanging off his back and an infant snuggled into the crook of his neck. “We need to get back to the Cave and run some analysis. Try to figure out if this can be reversed.”

Suddenly, a red blur ran into the picture. “Righto! I’ll just take Wally then-“ Barry tried to reach out and accept his nephew, but to everyone’s shock, Wally instantly shrank away from his touch.

“No!” the toddler cried. Barry froze. John watched as the wind sunk out of his sails and the smile slipped a little.

“You sure, buddy? You don’t want to come with Uncle –“

“No! Thtay with Lantern!”

Barry’s shoulders sank, and the smile disappeared completely. John felt sympathy flow towards the speedster; Wally meant so much to the poor guy. He was practically the son the CSI had never had. With some difficulty, he drew the redhead’s attention up and their eyes met. “Come on, bolt. Uncle B would never hurt you.”

His throat caught at the raw emotion. “Do you not want me, Green?” The green eyes were watering.

_Shit._ “No, kid. I want you, for sure. You’re an amazing guy.”

Little Kaldur decided to join in at this point. “Yeah, you’re da bestest, Wally.” A tiny blush crept up into the Atlantean’s cheeks.

The two started to converse while John returned his attention to his surroundings. He watched as various leaguers tried to take the children from the other two afflicted men, all in vain.  The children simply refused to go to anyone else. John gave passing notice to the fact that Batman wouldn’t even think of letting baby Robin out of his arms.

“Enough.” The Dark Knight didn’t yell, but his voice carried enough authority that it halted all activity in the area. “Clearly, the kids aren’t going to let go, so we are just wasting our time here. Green Lantern, Superman, meet me at Mount Justice, ASAP. The rest of you, dismissed. Have your mission reports on my desk at the Watchtower by Monday.”

The heroes started to trickle away (rather reluctantly in the case of most of the female heroes), but the guardians of the children refused to leave. “Black Canary,” Batman called out, halting her hesitative retreat. “Come with us. We may need you at some point.”

John surveyed the gathered supers. Manhunter, Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman… their shoulders sagged as they switched from vigilantes to concerned parents. John turned towards Batsy. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

With that, he activated his ring and launched into the sky, carefully holding tight to the two children now asleep in his arms.

-

_Mount Justice_

_-_

The sound of screaming children filled the air.

John put his head in his hands; he was sorely tempted to bang his forehead against the table in front of him. “Why won’t they stop crying?” he moaned.

Superman, sitting across from him, looked just as wary. “I don’t understand kids.”

Batman, at the head of the table, did not look nearly as tired, but the fact that the Dark Knight did not say anything was a testament to the fact that he was just as tired as the rest of the _mere mortals._

Even though Dinah and some of the other female leaguers were working with the children in the next room over, the incessant crying echoed around the chamber.

The sound of a door slamming shut caused the heroes’ heads to whip around. John felt faint amusement rise at the sight of a fed-up Black Canary marching indignantly with a baby in each arm.

“That is it!” she hissed. Without further ado, she dumped the two screaming children, who John now recognized as Baby Robin and Mini Captain Marvel, into the surprised hold of the Caped Crusader.

To the eternal amazement of all gathered, the instant that the boys were placed in his arms, they stopped crying and only gazed up quietly at their protector. Batman’s arms tightened around them instinctively, and the group watched in shock as the children snuggled in closer.

Dinah’s eyes narrowed. “Hmm…”

John didn’t think that he particularly liked the sound of that.

In a blink, the blond heroine was gone, the door swinging closed behind her. Kal-El and John exchanged nervous glances; they were sure that whatever idea Dinah had, it wouldn’t end particularly well for them.

The sound of the door opening drew their attention again. Black Canary was striding proudly into the room, two more children held in her grasp. Without hesitating, she placed the children into the arms of the waiting Green Lantern and disappeared, barely waiting to check to see if the children actually stopped crying or not.

John gazed down at the now-peaceful kids. Pale green eyes gazed up at him from the left, with a matching pair of bright green on the right. He tucked the children in closer to his body, their weight pulling on muscles in his arms that he hadn’t even known existed.

“Hey there, little Flash,” he muttered subconsciously. “Happy to be back, huh?” He stood up, his attention remaining on the children in his hold. He shifted his eyes to the dark Atlantean. “And what about you, little guppy? You still upset?”

The children simply watched him, and John started to hum, bouncing slightly in place.

The Green Lantern had no idea what to do with these toddlers. Sure, he liked kids, liked them a lot in fact. They were his number one fans; they were always happy to see them, no matter what. It was nice to know that there was at least one demographic that would always like him in society. With children this small, however… He didn’t even know if these kids could walk yet. What age did children begin to walk?

As John pondered his general lack of knowledge regarding children, he noticed that the crying had stopped completely at last. Glancing up, he saw the Kryptonian rather impressively balancing three children in his arms and lap and looking distinctly uncomfortable. John chuckled, a deep, warm rumble that caused Kaldur to put a hand on his chest to feel the rumbling. He was particularly enjoying watching the rather catlike propensity that Superboy seemed to have for cuddling.

The tiny Green Lantern felt a tiny hand tug on his uniform and looked down at a distressed Wally. “What is it, son?”

The boy whimpered. “Have to potty.”

All his previous amusement vanished. “Er…”

The boy looked even more concerned. “Have to potty now!”

John shook himself out of his fog. “Right, right. Let’s go, then…”

He had taken 3 steps when he felt another tug, this time from the other child. “What is it now?” John questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Kaldur looked up at him, apparently very determined. “Wanna walk!”

Praying internally for patience, John set the dark-skinned toddler down, watching as he toddled along proudly beside the older hero.

It was going to be a long day.

-

_Three Hours Later_

_-_

The kids had about exhausted the three male heroes. The Team and Captain Marvel seemed to be enthused with an endless amount of energy, and as they absolutely refused to play with anyone beside _their_ hero, Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern were dead on their feet.

Finally, about twenty minutes ago, the kids had crashed, and the three heroes had collapsed on chairs, kids sprawled in various positions around the living room area of the mountain.

“How can that be comfortable?” Superman asked in awe, watching Conner sleeping (apparently peacefully) with his face in the carpet and his butt in the air.

“I have no idea,” John replied, his own attention focused on Wally, who had wedged himself into the crack between cushions on the couch.

“They’re kids,” Batman stated, as if that answered everything. He gazed down at the boy in his arms (Robin was the only kid who refused to be set down). “They’re more flexible than a gymnast.”

The sound of assured, unrushed footsteps echoed around the corner. The men’s heads turned as Dinah walked into the room, black boots clicking, clearly recovered from her frustration earlier in the day.

The satisfied smirk on her face sent chills down John’s back. From the stillness of the room, he could tell that the other men felt the same.

“Well?” Batman prompted.

The smirk grew into a catlike grin. “They’ve imprinted on you.”

A loud snore (for a toddler) from mini-Captain Marvel temporarily drew everyone’s attention to the kid, who was napping half-way under the coffee table. Everyone took a minute to stare at the kid (his toes were twitching in the red onesie) before focusing again on Black Canary.

“What do you mean, _imprinted?”_ Superman asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“It means,” the blonde drawled, “That they see you, effectively, as parents.”

_“What?”_

Dinah raised an eyebrow. “You heard me, Kal.”

“She must be right.”

Batman’s deep, commanding voice echoed around the room, stopping any noises of complaint or argument. Batman stood, the black-haired, blue-eyed child still cradled carefully. “It would explain why they wouldn’t want to go with anyone else. What I fail to see,-“ the ‘because I have been stuck on babysitting duty’ went unsaid, “-is why they are like this in the first place.”

Black Canary cleared her throat, transitioning from teasing to business. “Wonder Woman was able to capture a single ship from the invaders. Though the ship was programed to self-destruct, we were able to glean their normal battle plans from the system.”

She took a step as if to start pacing, but then seemed to decide against it. John couldn’t blame her; the randomly placed kids made pacing the living room more like running the gauntlet. “This alien race takes ‘be prepared’ to a whole new level. The force we faced today was their advance guard. They won’t be reappearing for another ten to fifteen years.”

John scowled. “That’s normal for them? It’s poor strategy, gives the defenders a chance to prepare.”

Black Canary held up a hand, halting his tirade. “Actually, had you let me finish,”-John choose to ignore the pointed glare aimed his way-“It shows remarkable strategic thought. They come with the goal to eliminated those who would prove to be their greatest adversaries in the true war.”

Batman cursed. “Of course! It’s not something that the average race could achieve, but should the technology be available-“

Dinah finished the thought. “-It would almost always equate to victory.”

John was lost. He had a pretty good head on his shoulders, but Batman tended to make information leaps in his brain and didn’t always explain everything. From the shifting he heard from Superman’s general direction, he knew he wasn’t the only one feeling a little left out.

“Hello?” the Kryptonian called. “Care to enlighten the rest of us?”

Though Batman’s face remained expressionless, his body language screamed ‘ _I’m done with this shit.’_ “It’s like Dinah said; They come to eliminate the greatest competition in the future.” He gestured to the room at large and John’s breath caught as he finally understood.

The greatest competition.

Tomorrow’s heroes.

Today’s sidekicks.

They were on track to become powerful vigilantes and heroes; perhaps even more powerful than their mentors. In ten years, they would still be in their prime, while all the older heroes…

John’s eyebrows crinkled. “But, what about Captain Marvel?”

He didn’t miss the glance that Batman and Black Canary shared. There was something they weren’t telling him. Dinah shook her head. “That’s not our story to tell, but rest assured, he fits in well with our explanation.”

John remained suspicious, but he decided to let it slide. At the moment, he had bigger fish to fry.

Kaldur had woken up, and, immediately, had started crying. John sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. But, he reasoned, if the boys truly had _imprinted_ on him, then, logically, he would be the only one able to comfort the child. Kneeling next to the distraught boy, John pulled the Atlantean into his arms. “What’s wrong, guppy?” he asked quietly.

The boy began blubbering in Atlantean. _Crap_. John hardly knew any Atlantean. He held the boy tighter, but his hysteria didn’t diminish.

John searched his mind rapidly, trying to come up with some word suitable for comfort. One possibility rang to mind. “ _Symbiose!_ Together, little guppy. I’m right here. _Symbiose!_ ”

John rocked the little boy back and forth, trying to calm his nerves, listening as the child’s breathing began to slow to small hiccups. He pulled back, rubbing the boy’s back. “Alright now?”

Tearfully, the boy nodded. His hands flexed, as if trying to grab hold of something. “Bubba!” the boy cried. “Bubba!”

John was lost. “What? What is ‘Bubba’?”

Black Canary materialized at his elbow. Without a word, she handed a little stuffed octopus to the dark-skinned boy. With a happy cry, the boy hugged the green animal close to his body.

John raised an eyebrow. Canary simply said, “Aquaman mentioned he had a stuffed animal named Bubble when he was little. We figured it wouldn’t be long before he wanted it, so we found a replacement as fast as we could.”

The blonde went off, leaving John with a toddler happily playing on his lap. He looked down at the child, completely lost. Kaldur held out the toy, motioning for the Green Lantern to take it.

“Uh, thanks.” He grabbed the octopus and held it gently next to the kid. Apparently satisfied, Aqualad grabbed the toy back and returned to his own entertainment. Around the room, kids were starting to shift around, but Kaldur remained the only one fully awake.

“Sooo…” Canary drew the attention back to herself. “Welcome to parenthood, boys.”

Superman went white, and John could feel the color draining out of his own face. “What?” Only Batman remained visibly unaffected, the tiny Robin still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

“Did you not hear me earlier? The children have _imprinted_ on you. Meaning that they won’t accept the care of anyone else.”

The men surveyed the kids, despair rising in their hearts. Three men, who had never taken care of children under the age of 7 on their own, were now stuck with seven teenagers-turned-toddlers.

For several moments, there was absolute silence. Then, “What about their mental capacity? Their memories?”

Batman looked worried, glancing at the boy in his arms. John felt the shock echo around his body; Batman was displaying emotion, but, more than that, he was showing genuine human empathy. Robin must be very special to him, John realized.

Canary shifted, losing some of her self-assurance. “We…we don’t know for sure. They obviously have some of their memories, as they recognized everyone.”

She surveyed the room, some sorrow in her eyes. “I believe that they retain all of their memories. They just don’t have the mental and emotional maturity required to process the information beyond the most basic feelings.”

John felt his chest clench. “You mean to say that these _toddlers_ are going to have to deal with the memories of _supers?”_ Visions of nightmares and sleepless nights flashed through John’s head, pictures of crying children and tired eyes.

Superman shifted, and John only now noticed that he had picked up Conner. At the Green Lantern’s questioning glance, the alien only said, “He was fussing.” Clark turned to Dinah. “So, what does that mean for us?”

Dinah’s smile was sharklike. “It means, until we can figure out a way to reverse this, you all get to experience _all_ the joys of parenthood.”

-

_Day Zero_

_-_

John’s mind was in survival mode. He was counting the date based off Day Zero, the day the kids turned kids.

He was low on sleep.

He was starving.

And he was sick of snot.

After talking to them the previous day, Dinah had sent each of the men back home, armed with diapers, burp rags, and baby wipes in droves. _“Someone’ll come and check on you tomorrow,”_ she had said.

The night hadn’t started off so bad. The kids took well to the boxed macaroni and cheese, and Wally had crashed the second his head hit the pillow.

The trouble started about twenty minutes after he had put both kids to sleep in his guest bedroom. The door creaked open, and Kaldur had stumbled out. John glanced up from his position at the kitchen counter (he lived in a small apartment, only two bedrooms). “What’s up, kiddo?”

Kaldur rubbed his eyes sleepily, yawning, Bubble the Octopus clutched in one arm. “Wally’s flopping.”

The Green Lantern jerked back. “He’s what?”

The kid hugged Bubble to himself. “He’s rolling around and crying.” His soulful eyes met the stare of the hero. “Please help him?” The child looked about ready to cry.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” John muttered, plucking the child off the ground and putting him in his arms. With muscles aching (holding a child seemed to exercise different muscles from hero work) he carried the Atlantean back into his room. He stopped and grimaced when he noticed the speedster tossing about on the bed at a super speed.

“Oh, fu- _for_ Pete’s sake!” he mumbled, only just barely stopping the curse word from leaving his mouth in the presence of ‘young, impressionable children’ (Dinah’s words, not his). Crossing the room to the bed in two strides, he set Kaldur down on the wadded-up sheets and pulled the little redhead into his arms.

John hated feeling lost, but the emotion was becoming steadily familiar.

Was he supposed to wake the child up? He seemed to remember reading somewhere that it was best to let a child wake up from a nightmare on their own. Or was that night _terrors_? Uncertain, he began rocking the child back and forth, murmuring nonsense words into his ear.

“Johnny?” The hero’s eyebrows shot upward at the informal address; he never allowed anyone to call him that. He faced the little Atlantean.

“What is it?”

John suspected that, had Bubble been alive, the life would have been choked out of the green octopus from the boy’s hug. “Will Wally be okay?” His eyebrows were knit adorably in worry.

John looked at the child in his arms; he was still fussing, but had calmed down slightly. He shot Kaldur a small, lopsided grin. “He’ll be fine, guppy. He just had a scary dream.”

The determined look on the child’s face surprised John. “Well,” the toddler began. “I’m gonna protect him from all da scary things.” The Green Lantern’s heart just about melted from the adorable kid’s heartfelt words.

“Uh huh,” he teased, “and how are you going to do that when you’re older?”

Kaldur pouted in thought for a second, and then his face lit up. “I know! I’m gonna marry Wally when we’re all grown up! Then I’ll always be around to protect him!”

It was only with the innocence of childhood that such a plan was able to sound completely believable when spoken out loud. John smiled at the child in his lap; Wally had stopped rolling around and was now sucking his thumb contentedly, still entrapped in sleep but apparently in a more pleasant realm of dreams. “Really, guppy? People only marry one person who they love a whole lot.”

John didn’t feel the need to mention divorce.

Kaldur was extremely earnest in his reply. “But I do love him! I love Wally dis much!” He threw his arms wide, accidentally throwing Bubble off the bed in the process. With a shriek, he dove to retrieve the toy.

John chuckled at the kid’s determination. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if said feelings of love were born of a child’s ability to love everyone or if they were a remnant from when they were teenagers. Mentally shaking the thought from his head, he smiled at the little Atlantean who had returned to his perch on the bed. “I’m sure Wally loves you too, kiddo. Now,” he placed Wally back into the bed and watched in satisfaction as he nestled contentedly into the pillows. “To bed.”

Kaldur pouted. “Do I have to?”

John resisted the urge to roll his eyes, reminding himself that this was a little kid, not a full grown adult. “Yes, Kaldur, you have to go to bed.”

The boy continued to pout as the Green Lantern tucked him into bed. “Really?”

John sighed, pulling the covers up to the Atlantean’s chin. “Really, really.”

He stood, smoothing the sheets, and turned toward the open door. “Night, son.”

“Nighty night!” the boy chirped back cheerfully.

It was only after John had closed the door behind himself that he realized he was covered in snot from Wally’s nightmare.

“Damn,” he sighed, leaning against the wall.

-

_Day Two_

_-_

John had decided that he was never going to have kids of his own.

_Never_.

He had called in and taken the week off work, believing (correctly) that the boys would need his full attention while in their… weakened state.

So, for the past two days, John had been running rampant around the city, taking the boys to parks and museums (and getting banned from said museums in the process), figuring out what to feed them (apparently, Wally, as a child speedster, ate enough to fill a full-grown man), and just trying to stop them from breaking everything they had come into contact with.

Currently, they were on the floor in John’s living space, playing with a set of Legos. John had no idea that little pieces of plastic could be so expensive and entertaining, but right now he was thanking God for their inventor.

“And da mean pirate-“ Kaldur lifted up the minifigure-“swooped up da prince, and carried him away!” The Atlantean made the pirate ship ‘sail’ away.

“Not if I have any-ting to thay about it!” Wally replied in a gruff voice, making his knight figure bounce up and down with his words. “I’m gonna thave da hand-thome printhe!”

John put a hand over his eyes and fought down a chuckle as he watched the knight ‘battle’ the pirate, praying that the ‘fight’ wouldn’t make its way to the couch. He watched in amusement as the knight won the day, saving the prince from the pirate.

“I think that the printhe owez da knight a re—rew-a prize!” Wally declared triumphantly.

Kaldur folded his arms rather pompously for a toddler. “And what would dat prize be, eg-zactly?”

Wally smashed a small finger to his lips, obviously very deep in thought. “A kiz!” he finally stated. “Da printhe owez da knight a kiz!”

John raised an eyebrow. Interesting. Very interesting.

It seems that, with the lack of inhibitions found only in childhood, the true feelings of both boys were making an appearance.

Kaldur pouted. “Why a kiss?” he demanded. Quite clearly, the boys were no longer talking about the minifigures but about themselves.

“Cuz!” Wally responded. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, Wally sped next to the older boy in the blink of an eye and leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Ha ha! Got my kiz!” He sped away before the other boy could grab him.

“Why- get back here!” The Atlantean ran in vain after him, his face red and upset.

John watched the boys run around for a solid five minutes (he had removed any breakables from the boys’ living space day zero, so he wasn’t worried about them breaking anything) before Kaldur seemed to realize how outmatched he was.

Instead of just giving up the chase and returning to play with the Legos, as John had hoped he would, the boy plopped down in the middle of the carpet and started to cry. John sighed, hauled his exhausted butt off of the couch, and knelt next to the sobbing child. He placed a hand on the small child’s back and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Kaldur blubbered, “Wally stole a kiss!”

It was going to be a long day.

-

_Day Five_

-

John pushed the two children into the makeshift daycare at Mount Justice. “Go on,” he urged. “Have fun with your friends!”

The boys walked into the room, somewhat hesitantly. Conner, M’gann, Artemis, and Captain Marvel were already in the room and playing happily. John was more focused, however, on the sight of Batman trying to coax a small Robin from his arms. “Come on,” he urged. “You know everyone here! They won’t hurt you!”

The boy shook his head urgently. “Uh uh! Wan Dada!”

The Dark Knight sighed and picked the child up, sending the shocked Green Lantern a silencing glare in the process. “Fine, but you’ll have to be absolutely quiet for Daddy, alright?”

The boy smiled and snuggled contentedly into his hero’s arms. “Uh huh!”

The Batman left the room, leaving a frozen John behind him.

Had Robin just called Batman ‘Dada’? John was shocked by Batman’s acquiescence and gentle tone. He hadn’t known that the Batman had a soft side.

But the more he thought about it, the more sense he made. After all, Batman did have the youngest sidekick, and Robin was also the first sidekick. He had to have had the kid since the child was little. Of course he would be good with the child.

Shaking his head, and, seeing his boys taken care of, John followed in the Caped Crusader’s footsteps.

Upon entering the meeting room, John paused, noticing that almost the entirety of the League was present. This did not bode well for their present situation. Taking his usual seat, John glanced around, trying to discern the state of the news form the faces around him. All of those who would have knowledge about the meeting were carefully blank.

John pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He’d have to wait till the meeting actually started to gain any information.

Fifteen minutes later, Batman stood up and, with the usual pomp and circumstance, simply said, “Canary and I believe we have found a…solution to our situation.”

Rather that cry out in joy, everyone went still.

“You hesitated,” Flash said at last, saying what was on everyone’s mind.

Canary took over, clearly not wanting to deal with any of Batman’s issues today. “We have found a way to get our young heroes back to their true age,” she clarified.

Sighs of relief were heard around the room. If asked, John would definitely say that one did _not_ come from him. “The only problem is-“ Multiple people winced at that. Those words never preceded anything good.

“The solution is not instant.”

The blonde turned to Batman and raised an eyebrow, silently challenging his ability to explain the situation further. Shifting the child sitting patiently on his hip, the man stood up and began to pace around the room. “If the solution was instant, the shock to the kids’ bodies would be too great. The only reason they survived before was because their systems were simplifying. Imagine having to go through the entirety of puberty in the span of a second. The change would kill them.”

Muttering echoed around the room as people began to realize just how dangerous the ray was for the young heroes.

“Dada?” a small voice questioned uncertainly.

All movement in the room ceased. The Leaguers were staring at the child who had dared to call the Batman his father.

Sighing, Batman answered, “What is it, son?”

John was pretty sure the League was broken. Batman had just spoken to a child in an affectionate tone _and_ with an affectionate name.

“Haffa potty.”

Batman pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’ll resume this meeting when I get back.”

-

_Two Hours Later, Day Five_

-

Following the conclusion of the meeting, John stopped by the nursery area to pick up Wally and Kaldur. What he found was absolute chaos.

The kids were running everywhere.

Or, more specifically, the boys were running away from M’gann and Artemis, who were chasing them as fast as their little legs could carry them (for some reason, M’gann wasn’t flying). All of the children were screaming, but some sounded rather joyful, while others were clearly terrified.

The instant that John was spotted, Wally ran over and hid behind his protector’s legs, sticking his tongue out at the girls. Kaldur was not far behind, the little brown-skinned child nearly losing his balance in his haste to reach John.

Chuckling, he steadied the kid and knelt down, using his body as a shield against the incoming girls. “What’s his about, boys?”

Wally pouted angrily. “The girlz are gonna give uth cootieth!”

John raised an eyebrow. “Really? Did they give you cooties when you were older?” It wasn’t the first time he had referenced their previous age. The kids just seemed to kind of accept it. Ah, the wonders of childhood.

Wally shook his head enigmatically. “Uh uh! I don’t like girlz.”

John did his best to hide his shock; Wally was known to flirt with any girl he came into contact with. But, childhood removed inhibitions, so does that mean…

“Who did you like then?”

Wally looked at him as if he was an idiot. Kaldur had quietly wandered off and was just meandering around, looking. John wasn’t too worried about him. Wally, on the other hand, looked almost offended. “I like Wobin! He’s my brudder.”

John almost rolled his eyes. He forgot how specific one needed to be when dealing with children.  “Did you like anyone in a different way? Different from Robin?”

The boy’s eyebrows crinkled; clearly the question put a lot of strain on his childish mind. Finally, he brightened up and grinned. “I like Kaldur! Whenever I talked to him, my chest would get all tight and my-“

John clapped a hand over the child’s mouth. He didn’t want too much information, after all.

-

_Day 10_

_-_

John didn’t know what was worse; the terrible twos age from five days previous or the absolutely horrible three to four year old range.

The solution that the League had come up with was a serum, administered once a week, that would age the kids about a year every week. The time frame was pushing it, still pretty dangerous for so much change to the body, but it was the best they could do.

The serum was administered through hypodermic needle (John shuddered; he didn’t even want to think about the shot experience). The boys weren’t a big fan, but, John figured, the sooner they ‘grew-up’ the faster they would be out of his hair.

Oh, he enjoyed the kids. At times, they could be very entertaining, but he also had a job, two in fact (even if only one was recognized legally). He had a life (no matter how often Barry joked that he didn’t) and he was eager to return to it.

Plus, he was sick of stepping on Legos. At this point, John thought that all they needed to do to stop the war on terror was drop a ton of Legos on ISIS’s hideouts and watch the chaos that ensues. Seriously, the things must be magic, to hurt even through his thick-soled shoes.

John’s inner musings were interrupted by giggling coming from the boys’ room. Clenching his fists for a second before relaxing the muscles, he stood to investigate and found the boys drawing on his pristine walls.

Fantastic.

As he grabbed the supplies to set the now grumpy boys to cleaning, he noticed one particular drawing of red and yellow.

Two stick figures, one with spiky red hair and the other holding onto a green octopus, labelled, WALLY AND KALDUR, FOREVER AND EVER.

Honestly, the boys were so sappy as children that they could out-romance a teen fiction novel.

-

_Day 33_

-

The boys were now physically in the realm of 8 to 9 years old.

And John was continuing to watch the show.

The boys were reading, actually quiet for once, on the couch, but they weren’t sitting normally. Well, Kaldur was sitting upright, but Wally was laying across the couch, his head in Kaldur’s lap, holding the book up high. Kaldur, in turn, had simply held the book in front of him, not blocking Wally’s line of sight but still readable.

John was in the kitchen making lunch as he watched the unfolding drama.

Wally heaved a dramatic sigh and dropped the book on his face. “I’m sooooo boooorrreeed,” he moaned, his voice muffled by the paper.

Kaldur simply turned the page. “Well, then, do something.”

Wally moved the book so that it was resting on his thin little chest. “But I wanna play with you!”

Kaldur didn’t even glance at him. “I’m reading.” Another page flip.

Wally pouted, then seemed to get an idea. He wiggled off of Kaldur’s lap and placed his book on the couch beside him. Then, taking a deep breath, he pushed the book out of Kaldur’s unsuspecting hands and pinned his wrists above his head.

John was ready to step in; no need for a nine-year-old to get frisky. But instead, he waited for a second, and boy, was he glad he did.

Wally began to tickle the Atlantean. The squeals and giggles that erupted from the boy brought a smile to John’s face as he watched the speedster tickle the other into exhaustion.

When both boys were panting heavily, Wally finally let Kaldur go. He smiled at the other. “See? Wasn’t that fun?”

Kaldur was still giggling, but he leaned over and kissed the redhead on the nose. “Yep!”

These boys were going to give John a cavity.

-

_Day 51_

-

“Hey John! Is it okay if Kal and I catch a movie?”

John looked up and made eye contac with the hopeful pre-teen. “Which one?”

The boy shrugged, his hands thrust in his pockets. “We wanna see ‘Frozen.’”

John raised an eyebrow. “The new Disney movie?”

Wally just shrugged again. “Kaldur wants to see it,” he replied, as if that answered everything.

John glanced at the clock. 5 PM. Plenty of time for a movie. “Sure. You know where the pizza cash is?”

The boy grinned. “Of course! Thanks, GL!” He sped off.

Shaking his head and chuckling, John returned his attention to his book. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the boys were doing a little more than catching a movie.

-

_Day 51, 5 hours later_

-

Just before 10 PM, the door to the apartment opened and John could hear both the pre-teens’ voices as they entered. Muting the television program, he turned towards the entrance and raised an eyebrow. “Good movie, boys?”

His eyes were drawn immediately to their clasped hands.

Wally grinned. “Just the best!” He tugged on Kaldur’s hand and pulled him into their room. “Night, Johnny!”

Letting the nickname slide, he bid the boys goodnight, wondering if he should perhaps give them separate sleeping arrangements in the future.

-

_Day 66_

-

John stared at the teenagers before him in astonishment.

“You want to _what?”_

Kaldur blushed. “We would like to go on a date.”

The physically-13-to-14-year olds fidgeted awkwardly in front of their guardian. They were clearly uncertain and expecting refusal. John decided to play with them, just a little bit more. “And what are you going to do on this _date?”_

Wally rubbed the back of his neck. “Umm, we were gonna go get pizza and walk around the park a bit. If that’s alright?”

John scrutinized the two kids, laughing on the inside at their discomfort. “Alright,” he said, after a long, pregnant pause. The boys grinned in relief at his quiet acceptance.

Their relief was short lived.

As they were walking out the door, John called out to them, “No PDA!”

At their embarrassed exclamations, John allowed himself a small chuckle.

He couldn’t believe the kids had been with him for more than two months. They were starting to feel like an odd little family. John didn’t allow himself to dwell on the thought, however, as he knew that soon the boys would be back to their normal selves and back to their normal families.

He shook off the sad thought and went to go dig out some old sheets. No way the boys were sharing a room again after tonight.

-

_Day 66, Three hours later_

-

Just as the boys entered the apartment, laughing and joking, John was tucking in the sheets on the pull-out bed. The couch cushions were stacked neatly in the corner, and Kaldur’s green octopus Bubble was sitting on the pillow.

The boys stopped short at the sight, clearly confused. Grinning at them, John faced them head on, hands on his hips. “Have a fun time?”

The boys blushed and nodded. John again noted their clasped hands. He nodded. “Good. Now get to bed.”

As the boys began to head for the visitor’s room, John took great pleasure in calling, “Kaldur! You’re on the pullout, son.”

The blush on the boy’s face was an excellent reward for John’s hard work.

-

_Day 73_

-

Wally had reached his full age. Kaldur still had about two more weeks.

And they had completely ignored the fact that they went on a date not three weeks prior and returned to acting normal.

John confronted the redhead. It seemed it was time for him to go home.

The boy paled when he brought it up. “But…but…”

John hid a smile. He knew that the boy didn’t want to go home. He couldn’t help but feel at least some of the same sentiment. “Surely you wish to go home to your family. Your uncle misses you.”

Wally looked about uncertainly. The boy loved his family, and no doubt wanted to see his Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry again, but here…

Wally squared his shoulders, suddenly very determined. “I’ll leave when Kaldur leaves. After all, I wouldn’t want to leave him alone in the presence of a grumpy old man.”

John shook his head. Looking about furtively, he noticed that Kaldur was in the next room over, reading on the bed. He quickly pulled Wally over to the couch. The boy looked slightly nervous.

John grinned wickedly. “So,” he leaned forward, capturing the boy with intense eye contact. “When did you realize that you liked Kaldur?”

The boy stammered, his face bright red.  John let him sit there, not offering the boy any release. His face resembled a tomato more and more as he sat there, before he caved. “For a long time, okay? Nearest guess is about three years.”

John sat back and folded his arms. “Why haven’t you done anything about it?”

Wally shrank back into the couch. He mumbled something.  “What was that?”

The speedster closely resembled a tomato at this point. “Because I was scared! Its not normal for boys to like boys, in case you hadn’t noticed!”

John nodded, his own suspicions confirmed. “Wally, your closest associates include an alien, a clone, and an Atlantean. How could they be anything but accepting? The League is literally made up of all walks of life.”

He shrugged.

John sighed. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

The boy nodded, looking doubtful.

John patted his shoulder and stood from the couch with a groan. “You can stay until Kaldur leaves,” he announced, to the boy’s joy.

As he was walking away, the Green Lantern called over his shoulder, “By the way, you two would make an excellent couple.”

-

_Day 90_

-

Kaldur was finally back to his normal age. The boys had grown slightly awkward around one another, as if unsure of how to proceed. They had been tiptoeing around each other for days, and, though John was somewhat sad to see the boys go, he was absolutely sick of the raging hormones.

With the boys due to leave tomorrow, John decided to do something about it. He picked up his League Comm and tuned into the private sequence. “Black Canary? Come in, Black Canary.”

At her answering affirmative, a despicable smirk, he told her, “We have some serious planning to do. Modified Operation BD.”

Her evil chuckle was all the answer he needed.

-

_Day 90, Three hours later_

-

When Wally and Kaldur walked into the apartment together after stopping, they were stopped dead by a sheet blocking off the entry hall. Stuck to the sheet was a sticky note which said:

_Wally and Kaldur,_

_Away for L. Corp business. Back as soon as possible._

_Asked BC to take care of you. She set this up. Blame her if you must._

_-J_

The boys shared a look and shrugged. Pulling the sheet aside, Wally swept an arm out in a bow. “After you, good sir.”

Kaldur rolled his eyes and knocked him in the shoulder before moving past the sheet into the dimly lit living area. Wally moved to follow him, but bumped straight into the other boy’s broad, strong shoulders. He tapped said shoulder. “Dude? Everything alright up there?”

Wally crinkled his eyebrows at Kaldur’s long pause. Finally, he answered and moved aside. “I think everything is fine?”

Wally moved into the room and immediately felt his face burning up.

The room had been made over to create the perfect, stereotypical ‘romantic’ setting. The lights were low, music playing softly, and dinner was set out on the table. Both of the young heroes’ felt their faces heating up, the blood rushing to their ears.

Sure, they had been alone together loads of times…

But this…

This was different.

Wally shook his head and decided that there was nothing to do but roll with it. Clearing his throat, he gestured to the table. “Ready for dinner?”

The Atlantean appeared slightly more unsure. “…I suppose.”

The dark-skinned boy trailed after his more-than-a-friend and blushed when the other boy pulled his seat out with great showmanship. “Thank you,” he said.

Wally gave a debonair smile, but Kaldur thought he could see a spot of nervousness hidden within it. “Of course.” He sped quickly into the seat opposite.

They dug into the meal, and for a minute or so, there were just the sounds of forks clattering and knifes scraping. Quickly, Wally decided that he was uncomfortable. “Soo,” he drawled.

Aqualad raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

“Who do you think would win, Batman or Superman?”

-

John floated out on the balcony, watching the boys in the apartment have their dinner.

He tapped his comm. “Going according to plan. Conversation was slow at first, but they’ve recovered.”

“Good,” BC shot back quickly.

-

“So, we’ve reached a consensus, then. Batman would win,” Wally declared victoriously.

Kaldur chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “Yes. Batman would win.”

There was a lull in the conversation, and Kaldur felt something shift in his gut. _Now,_ something seemed to tell him. _Now say how you feel._

He opened his mouth. “Wally, I…”

The words didn’t want to come out. At that time, a new song came on, slow and warm. Kaldur internally steeled his nerves as he stood up and held out a hand. “Would you like to dance?”

Wally’s fork froze halfway between his mouth and his plate and for a second, Kaldur feared he had made a terrible mistake. He frantically gathered his thoughts, searching for a way to ease his potential embarrassment, before Wally’s fork clattered onto his plate and he pushed the chair back, accepting the Atlantean’s outstretched hand. “Yes! Er, yeah, I would love to dance.” The boy’s face almost matched his hair.

Steadily, silently, gracefully, Kaldur guided the other boy into his arms, taking the lead in the dance.

-

“They’re dancing now,” John reported. There was a satisfied smirk on his face.

“On whose suggestion?” Canary demanded.

“Kaldur’s,” John replied.

“Fantastic,” she murmured, as if only half talking to John. “Mutual action. That’s good.”

-

Wally couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. The guy that he was practically in love with was holding him in his arms, swaying him gently to the beat of a love song.

With his partner silent, Wally listened to the song. It was a sappy country song, one Wally was somewhat ashamed to admit to knowing. _Heartbeat_ , Carrie Underwood. A song about being themselves by themselves.

Appropriate, Wally couldn’t help but think.

He was choosing to ignore the fact that most of the songs played so far had been on his most listened to playlist, with this one topping the charts.

-

“Do they like the music?” Canary questioned.

John rolled his eyes. “Yes. Are you ever gonna tell Wally you hacked his Google Play Music account?”

The other line was silent.

-

_Now,_ Kaldur’s gut kept telling him. _Tell him NOW!_

Right, Kaldur thought. This was extremely doable. He was a superhero, for Pete’s sake; this was nothing. He took a deep breath, drawing Wally’s attention up to his face. “Wally,” he said. “I like you.”

The other chuckled somewhat nervously. “Well duh! We _are_ friends, aren’t we?”

Kaldur managed to fool himself into believing that there was hope hidden somewhere in Wally’s eyes. “Yes, of course we are, but… I also like you as more than a friend.”

The speedster’s eyes went wide, but Kaldur plunged forward. If he was doing this, he figured he better at least do it the right way. “I love the way you laugh and smile, I love the way you try to make others smile just as much if not more than yourself. I love how smart you are, how confident you act. You are the most genuinely empathetic and compassionate person I know.”

The Atlantean went on, seemingly oblivious to the elated smile creeping across his dance partner’s face. “And I know this is sudden and all, and I know that you probably don’t even like boys, and-“

He was stopped by a pair of dry lips on his own. His eyes went wide and his cheeks and the tips of his ears went red. The lips pulled back and Kaldur found himself looking into Wally’s beautiful green eyes. “Kaldur?”

The boy struggled to speak past the lump in his throat. “Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

And with that, Kaldur took the initiative and swept the other into his arms, holding him close and kissing him slowly, sweetly, gently.

-

Dinah was upset. John had reported in in about 5 minutes.

“John!” she snapped into the comm unit. “Give me an update!”

Still no response.

She was contemplating storming his stakeout location where her cellphone indicated a received message. She smiled softly as a picture of the two boy’s kissing chastely filled her screen.

Modified Operation Blind Date was a success.

-

_Epilogue_

_Twelve Years Later_

-

The current scarlet speedster locked up the last of the invading aliens. Stepping back and swiping his hands, he chuckled. “Glad that mess is finally over with.”

His best friend, the raven-haired Nightwing, chuckled from his place beside the other hero. “Seriously. Twelve years in the making.”

A dark-skinned Atlantean stepped up to the other side of the Flash. “They caused us such a mess, so long ago.”

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “Really? I was thinking that we should actually thank them. Their little _experiment_ actually proved fairly helpful for nearly everyone.”

Flash nodded pensively. “Yeah, they did help you and Supey with your daddy issues.”

Nightwing’s domino mask couldn’t hide his eye roll. “I was thinking more along the lines of, ‘they got you and your husband together,’ but that works, I guess.”

The Atlantean chuckled and wrapped one hand around the speedster’s waist, the other going up to cradle his partner’s cheek. “I guess.”

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “And… that’s my cue,” he murmured and disappeared into the shadows.

The Atlantean gave his husband a gentle kiss. The hand on the speedster’s face sported a silver ring with a single emerald on it.

An emerald in a very familiar shade of green.

“I love you,” Kaldur murmured.

Wally closed the distance between them, delivering a chaste kiss.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might consider writing a sequel about each of the other two little 'families' affected by the age change. I have a feeling that writing little Robin might be fun :).
> 
> Let me know if ya'll liked this idea or not! Thanks for reading!


End file.
